Finance Bill adds complexity
Share this article
During report stage debate on the Finance Bill on 11 March, the Lib Dems put forward a new clause drafted with support from CIOT, which sought an assessment of the impact of the Bill on the complexity of the tax system and on the time and cost of tax administration for taxpayers and their representatives, as well as for HMRC.
CIOT had said the Finance Bill as a whole will mean ‘more taxpayers, more tax returns and more work for tax collectors, as well as taxpayers and their advisers’.
Proposing the amendment, Lib Dem spokesperson Charlie Maynard highlighted that the tax system is ‘getting bigger and more complex’ and that the government, with a big majority, has ‘a real opportunity to do some serious thinking about how to simplify, root and branch, our tax code’. The minister told MPs he was open to ideas for simplification. The new clause was not pressed to a vote.